Bruce Willis has not acted since 2022. M. Night Shyamalan calls him the 'guardian angel' of his career
M. Night Shyamalan has paid heartfelt tribute to Bruce Willis off the back of their Unbreakable and Glass turns — even bestowing on him a rather telling moniker.
If you've followed M. Night Shyamalan's career for any length of time, you'll know he's always been keen on returning to familiar territory—whether it's twisty narratives, or, as in this case, familiar faces. One of his most persistent collaborators? Bruce Willis, obviously. Shyamalan's now opened up about their long partnership, and, frankly, it's rather touching.
The pair kicked things off back in 1999 with The Sixth Sense (the one with "I see dead people"—how could you forget?), and then carried on with Unbreakable and, much later, Glass. Speaking to The Wrap about their connection, Shyamalan didn't mince words when describing just how much Willis has meant to him, both in the industry and personally.
Shyamalan, chatting with The Wrap, put it simply: "Everyone needs a guardian angel, and he was mine. He's very important to me – always been, will always be. I was lucky that I got to make ‘Glass’ with him – in many ways, his last movie."
Not exactly a bloke you'd expect to get soppy about his action hero mates, but there it is. Shyamalan also spoke about their path together—starting when Willis, an obvious Hollywood heavy-hitter even then, was apparently a kind of personal hero for the young director. It was a complicated relationship, apparently, but one Shyamalan calls "so beautiful". He makes it clear he can't say enough about the man—or, by the sounds of it, about the odd way their careers ended up intertwined.
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The next twist
Putting nostalgia aside, Shyamalan's hardly hanging up his hat yet. The man's already set on another new feature due out next year—Remain, a supernatural romance-thriller, because what else would you expect from him? It's an original concept from Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks—yes, that Nicholas Sparks, of weepy romance novel fame—who actually wrote his own version as a novel in 2025. Definitely not your usual pairing.
Expect to see Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead as Tate Gordon, a reclusive architect who shifts to a remote coastal town for a job, only to get caught up in a grim local mystery—after a run-in with a mysterious young woman (that'll be Phoebe Dynevor). The cast also features Ashley Walters, Julie Hagerty, and Jay O. Sanders. Shyamalan's both writing and directing, plus he's got producing duties alongside Ashwin Rajan, Theresa Park, and Marc Bienstock.
Remain (directed by Shyamalan and starring Jake Gyllenhaal) is scheduled for a 5 February 2027 cinema release.
Distribution comes courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. If you're keeping track: that means we're getting classic genre fare, another improbable Shyamalan–Sparks crossover, and a cast that's actually pretty sharp, all landing in UK cinemas in early 2027.